Persona Shadow of Fate
by epicgamer484
Summary: It had been almost a full year since the Dark Hour incident that took the life of her twin brother, however for Hakuno Arisato, her journey is not yet over, as she is thrust into a two century long conflict called the Holy Grail War. A Persona 3 / Fate stay night crossover.


As Soon as she opened her eyes, Hakuno Arisato was greeted with the familiar sight of two people that she didn't think she would see again. The first person was a short old man with grey hair, wore a smart business suit with white gloves, and had the longest nose she had ever seen. This was Igor, the master of the mysterious realm between dreams and reality called the Velvet Room.

Beside him was another familiar face that she had met before, a cream blond haired male wearing velvet blue suit, the kind of thing a bellboy would wear at a fancy hotel, or restaurant. This was Theodore, one of a trio of siblings that served as Igor's assistants.

"Welcome to the Velvet Room Miss Arisato, it is good to see you, though I didn't think that we would meet again, given the rather eventful circumstances that happened last year," Igor said to the person sitting in front of him.

Hakuno Arisato was a former second year of Gekkoukan high school that was located on Tasumi Port Island. She was also the second squad leader of the Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad, or SEES for short, a task force of different individuals wielding the supernatural power of Personas.

The reason that the Kirijou group gathered these persona users was due to the phenomenon that transpired on Tasumi Port Island called the Dark Hour, the hidden 25th hour between one day in the next, and a mysterious event that is home to a race of beings known as Shadows.

However, that was all in the past, as SEES had disbanded following the events that transpired last year, resulting in the other members including herself to go on with their individual lives. Hakuno in particular, was affected by the events that happened between April 2009- January 2010, causing a deep wound in her heart that she wasn't sure would ever heal.

Because it was during that year that she had lost the only family she had left.

Hakuno had been part of a pair of Faternal twins, her twin brother being the blue haired Minato Arisato, the one who served as the combat leader of SEES due to his special ability he shared with his sister. He was also someone who sacrificed himself for the sake of humanity by giving up his life essence to become the Great Seal and seal Nyx away forever.

The funeral that transpired after Graduation day caused Hakuno to cry her eyes out over her brothers alter. The two of them had been together ever since their parents died, resulting in the two sharing a bond that could never be broken under any circumstances, none except death.

So the brown haired girl was more than a little upset over her brother's death. She had been confused about the reason her brother died as the autopsy performed prior to the funeral revealed that there were no physical diseases that he had before he died. It was as though his body had just shut down, like a car running out of fuel.

It wasn't until the day that the SEES dormitory was to be shut down, that Hakuno learned the real reason her brother gave his life. During the final battle Minato had used the bonds he had forged over the course of the year to craft the Universe Arcana, giving him the power to create the Great Seal and seal NYX way using his Life Essence in the process.

However, the seal's true purpose wasn't to hold back Nyx at all, since it wasn't a malicious deity to begin with, but was instead a gate preventing anyone and anything from reaching out to the Personification of Death, such as the being known as Erebus, the collective malice of humanities desire for death.

Realizing that it would not be able to breach the seal, Erebus turned its attention to Hakuno and Aigis, since they possessed the same power that made up the seal, resulting in a fight breaking out between SEES and the personification of humanities desire to die, it was a hard battle but eventually the persona users emerged victorious, resulting in Erebus having to wait 4 years before it would be able to reform, and try to break the seal again, because for as long as there are still individuals that want to die, Erebus will never truly be gone.

Meaning that if they wanted to free Minato from his fate, they needed to make sure to live life to the fullest, and work hard to make the world a better place, so that no one would want to die any more. Unfortunately this was easier said than done. As long as humanity continued to exist, there would always be someone seeking death, hence why there were still lots of suicide attempts today, especially in a country like Japan.

With that, life returned to normal as Hakuno started her second year of high school. However it wasn't until a few months later that she was to be sent on an entirely new adventure.

"Igor? What are you doing here? I thought my contract with the Velvet room had already ended," the ginger haired girl said. "You said it yourself a few months ago after what happened during the beginning of my second year," Hakuno said as she recalled that fiasco back in April.

"Too true," the long nose man remarked. "However, that was merely the end of one of the fool's journey, and a new story has begun to unravel at your destination."

This caused Hakuno to groan. She should have expected this kind of vague response from Igor, but this got the brown haired girl thinking. She was now positive that the place she was going to was sure to have dormant shadow activity, if the Velvet Room was involved.

"Do you have any idea what kind of trouble I'm sure to encounter there?" she asked.

"I'm afraid that I cannot say" the master of the Velvet Room apologized. "However, I do know that what you will encounter will be sure to test the power of the wild card to the fullest."

This surprised Hakuno immensely, as the power of her personas had improved immensely over the course of a year. Sure, the abilities of her stronger ones were reduced somewhat when she summoned them outside of the dark hour using her Evoker, but the sheer versatility she possessed made it so that she was a force to be reckoned with.

Heck, she and her brother had even managed to defeat Theodore and Elizabeth in a duel, after they had managed to improve the power of their personas, speaking of Elizabeth.

"Actually Igor, do you know where Elizabeth is? I haven't seen her yet," Hakuno remarked, looking at Theodore to see if he knew where his sister was.

"Unfortunately, my sister has decided to shamefully neglect her duties, and has journeyed outside of the Velvet Room," the cream haired boy said with a straight face as the wild card sweat dropped at the kind of antics Elizabeth could get up to. She wasn't worried about her safety since the woman was a being who ruled over power, but the sister of Theodore had a 'unique' personality and approached various things in the real world with a differently compared to normal people. After all, this was the same girl who had emptied her entire purse into the fountain at the mall.

"Do you have any idea where she is?" Hakuno asked.

"I'm afraid that I don't have any leads at this point, however if you want I can keep you posted about her whereabouts if you like."

"No that's fine, I'm sure she has a very good reason for what she's doing. I'm sure she'll come back when she's ready," the wild card said.

"I see," Igor said. "In that case, we can move on to the more important matter at hand. Theodore if you please," he gestured as his assistant brought the large book he carried to the table where Hakuno sat.

"Based on the trials that you will face these next couple of weeks, I have decided that it is time you are entrusted with the full extent of the wild card's powers." He then waited for the attendant to explain further.

"This book is called the Persona Compendium, it contains all the persona that you managed to collect on your journey last year. Something I am sure will be a truly valuable asset for you in the future." Theodore explained.

Hakuno looked at the book in recognition as she realized it was the book she used whenever she needed to register any of her new personas or summon new ones when she visited the Velvet Room.

This meant that she now had access to every persona she had collected for each of the major arcana, including Surt, Orpheus, Loki, Thor, Odin, and Thanatos, without having to pay for them each time.

"This, this is way more then I could have expected, but are you sure it's alright for me to keep this?" Hakuno asked.

"Absolutely, since I am forbidden from interfering directly with the outside world beyond this room, I felt that you would need all the help you can get. If you're going to survive the trials in store for you that is," Igor said with a wide grin.

"I see, thank you for this great gift Igor. I promise to put it to good use."

"I'm sure you will my dear. Now then is there anything else you would like to hear?" the long nosed man asked Hakuno. She looked around the room and asked something that had been bothering her for a while now.

"Actually Igor there is something I want to ask. Why does the Velvet room look like a train car compartment?"

Sure enough, the room looked very different from before, the harp shaped chair she was sitting on was still the same, but they were inside a room with velvet carpets hanging from the ceiling and there was a window that looked like they were riding on a set of rails.

"Ah yes, that is something that my master prepared for my next guest that will be visiting later on this evening."

This of course surprised Hakuno as that could only mean one thing.

"Hold on a second, are you telling me that there's another wild card out there besides me and Aigis?"

It was definitely something to think about as the power of the wild card was an extremely useful ability. It was also a unique trait for individuals who were aligned with the fool arcana.

As Igor would put it, the fool was like the number 0, empty but full of limitless potential. As such, it lets a person use multiple personas rather than the single one other people have.

However, for beginners, the wild card started off weak compared to other persona users and can be strengthened by forming social links with other people. As the bond with other people improved, her ability to fuse together other masks into stronger and more powerful personas increased, eventually allowing her to acquire the ultimate personas of their respective arcana over time.

The actual concept of social links reminded Hakuno a little of this cartoon that Yukari had watched one time called 'My Little Pony, Friendship is Magic' since the power of the wild card literally ran on the power of friendship.

This of course made Hakuno feel a bit guilty. She was manipulating her friends feelings in order to acquire more power, but the feelings she had for the people she formed bonds with over time were truly genuine. This made her realize that if she never really cared about her friends, then she never would have maxed out her social links in the first place, but she did and was all the more grateful for that fact.

"The power of the wild card is present in everyone who possesses the arcane of the fool and it just so happens there exists one such individual in the place you are going to," Igor explained, before Hakuno inquired further.

"Then I take it I am to help guide this new wild card user in how to use his ability?"

"That is entirely up to you my dear. I can tell you that your destiny and his are now intertwined, so there is a high chance you will meet each over soon. Should you need any more questions answered, you can visit the Velvet Room later on if you wish."

Realizing that she had gotten all that she could out of Igor for the time being, the bearer of the wild card decided it was time to leave.

"I see, thank you for your hospitality"

"Think nothing of it, as a guest of the Velvet Room, we are here to help you until your journey ends. Now, I think it's time that you awoke, you are almost at your destination after all!"

Confused by the strange choice of words, Hakuno suddenly noticed her vision going black.

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(Sunday 2nd February 2011)

"We are now approaching Fuyuki train station. I repeat, we are now approaching Fuyuki train station," the intercom voice announced, arousing the 2nd year high school student from her sleep. She looked around the cramped train car, her thoughts coming back to her in a flash.

It seemed that she had fallen asleep while she was on the train, which was understandable as it was a long train ride from Tatsumi Port Island to her destination. She had even had to change train routes along the way as there was no direct line to where she was going.

As soon as the train arrived at her destination, Hakuno got up from her seat and stretched her arms, since she had spent a long time sitting down during the trip. With that done she grabbed her bag and headed for the doors with the other passengers.

She got off and began walking through the train station. It only took a few minutes, but she was eventually temporarily blinded by the bright light of the outside world. Regaining her senses she looked around in order to observe her surroundings. The one land-mark that she spotted was the big red bridge over the river, separating the area into two.

"So this is Fuyuki city," Hakuno remarked. "Got to admit it's a lot nicer then what Mitsuru-Senpai described. Hard to believe that such strange events are happening here."

This was the real reason Hakuno Arisato had made the long trip to Fuyuki city. She was a part-time member of the Anti-Shadow Supression unit that Mitsuru had set up following her graduation and assuming the reins as CEO of the Kirijou Group.

Shadow Operatives was an unofficial law enforcement division backed by Mitsuru's Company, and operated with the police in order to handle cases that normal law enforcement wouldn't be able to handle alone, such as things involving Shadows and Personas.

Officially Shadow Operatives didn't exist, which was why Hakuno's sempai operated in the shadows. The existence of shadows being known to the public would cause wide spread panic, it could be said that the division was the spiritual successor to SEES.

Originally, Mitsuru created the group in order to atone for the mistakes her family committed 10 years ago and decided to fight against shadows so that the events of last year would never happen again.

Nevertheless, Mitsuru was surprised when Hakuno decided to join her group as she too was a victim of her company's crimes. However, the bearer of the wild card was stubborn in the decisions she made.

Which lead to this situation. While she was scanning her line of sight in order to find her ride, she spotted the familiar sight of a blonde haired girl with headphone like appendages on her head and wearing a smart business suit like outfit with a skirt to go with it. She was also holding a large cardboard card with Hakuno's name on it.

Recognizing her, Hakuno waved back and ran towards her with bag in tow before hugging the smartly dressed girl.

"Aigis, it's great to see you," the wild card user said happily.

"It is good to see you as well Hakuno-san. Mitsuru-san said that you were coming and entrusted me with making the necessary preparations for our stay," she said in a mechanical voice, but with such emotion that you would never guess that she was a robot.

Aigis was also known as the 7th generation Anti-shadow suppression unit that was developed by the Kirijo group 10 years ago. She was also good friend of Hakuno's that had fought alongside herself and her brother last year against Nyx.

She was the one responsible for implanting Nyx's avatar, Death, inside both herself and her twin brother Minato. After realizing that the powerful shadow was too powerful to be sealed into a single individual, it had forced her to rip Death in half and seal both halves into the fraternal siblings.

She was also another wild card like Hakuno as she was able to summon multiple personas.

"Here is the file containing the data relevant to the case as well as its connections to the incident 10 years ago," Aigis replied, handing a thick brown file to the former host of Death, who received it and held it under her arm.

"Thanks Aigis-san, so are we going to catch a taxi to the hotel?" Hakuno asked, causing the android to shake her head.

"That will not be necessary," she replied before grabbing a pair of keys from her pocket and using them on the car door that Hakuno noticed she had been standing next to this whole time.

"Please follow me Hakuno-san," the android asked as she climbed into the driving compartment, waiting for her friend to join her on the passenger seat.

"You never told me you could drive Aigis-san," the wild card said with a tone of surprise as she climbed into the car and sat down.

"It was Mitsuru-san's idea. She thought that it would be a good idea if I knew how to operate a form of transportation for missions, so I took the driving test just last month. Although I had to use a fake ID since I couldn't reveal the fact that I am an Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapon. The Kirijo group leased this car to me as a company car for the mission," Aigis explained as she shifted gears.

"Anyways, it would be best if you read that file I gave you before we arrive at the hotel so that you can get started."

Hearing this, Hakuno nodded her head as she placed her bag in the back compartment and opened the file. She quickly found the files pertaining to the police reports, as well as photos of various crime scenes and notable individuals.

The mysterious events that currently plagued the city of Fuyuki had started ten years ago beginning with a series of mysterious murders and culminating in a massive fire that killed a total of 500 people.

The incidents in question included a destroyed area of the harbor docks, the bombing of one of Fuyuki's most expensive hotels, a series of kidnappings involving kids aged between 7-12 around Fuyuki and its surrounding cities, several eye witness reports about a giant squid like creature approaching the city, destroyed roads leading outside of the city, and finally the aforementioned massive fire.

What was strange was that during the events leading up to the fire, there were several note worthy individuals that were seen near the fire at the time of the incident. These included Tohsaka Tokiomi, Kotomine Kirei, Matou Kariya, Waver Velvet, Kayneth Archibald El-Melloi, Uryu Ryuunosuke, Irisviel Von Einzbern, and Emiya Kiritsugu.

Tohsaka Tokiomi was a wealthy landowner that was married to a woman called Tohsaka Aoi and had had two children with her at the time of the incident, though the youngest child was no longer with him as he had put her up for adoption by the Matou family a year before the incidents. He also had a good relationship with the local priest Risei Kotomine, which explained his relation with Risei's son, Kotomine Kirei. Unfortunately, he was no longer among the living having been murdered in his house a few days before the fire.

Kotomine Kirei was a Catholic priest and the son of Kotomine Risei, the local priest at Fuyuki church, who was a long time friend of the Tohsaka family. He was also a widower who had lost his wife to a suicide a few years before the incident ten years ago and had spent a significant amount of time with the head of the Tohsaka family. After the fire, he took up his father's position and was currently serving as both the local priest and the legal guardian of Tokiomi's daughter, Tohsaka Rin.

Matou Kariya was a strange one. He had apparently left the Matou family years before the incident happened, but this suddenly changed when he came back a year before the fire, no one knew why he did this, but it probably had something to do with the Tohsaka family as the youngest daughter, Tohsaka Sakura, was adopted into the Matous by Kariya's father.

What was really strange to Hakuno, was that he suddenly went missing for a year after that, even his landlord had no idea where Kariya went. Eye-witnesses reported seeing a man by Matou Kariya's description entering the Matou estate a few moments before the fire. Eventually the police declared it a closed case. They couldn't tell whether he was alive or dead since they hadn't been able to find his body.

Keyneth Archibald El-Melloi was a wealthy nobleman who, according to his file, worked at the British Museum in London of all places and had been visiting Fuyuki City on a business trip, staying at a five star hotel with his fiancé. It was the very same hotel that had been destroyed as the result of a terrorist attack.

Eventually, Keyneth's body was discovered in an abandoned warehouse area riddled with bullets as well as being decapitated along with the body of his fiancé. A long piece of parchment was also discovered at the site, but forensics discarded the piece of paper as they declared it unimportant.

His body was eventually shipped back to England for funeral arrangements along with his dead fiancé.

Waver Velvet was a 19 year old man who was also present in Fuyuki City visiting his grandparents, Glen and Martha McKenzie, while on leave from his semester attending a private college in London. He returned to England after a week and had unfortunately been unavailable for questioning as he was busy with his teaching job.

Uryu Ryuunosuke was, in Hakuno's opinion, a psychopath. He was identified by the police as the serial killer who had been plaguing the streets of Fuyuki City for weeks. His victims were often women and children, but he had been focusing more on kids a week before the large fire.

He was finally located by the Miyama River with gunshot wounds on both his chest and head following a call by a distressed citizen who had witnessed the killer's demise. Perhaps some kind hearted soul had decided to take matters into his/her own hands and ended the serial killers reign of terror for good.

Irisviel von Einzbern was a German Aristocrat who lived far to the north of Germany where it was very cold. The reason she was visiting Japan was probably because her husband, Emiya Kiritsugu, came from the same country. She had been accompanied by a blonde haired American by the name of Elise Watson. Though it was possible it was a false name, if the passport that she had given was any indication. Irisviel also entered the country under a false name. Unfortunately both women ended up missing during the events leading up to the fire and hadn't been seen since.

Her husband, Emiya Kiritsugu, on the other hand, had purchased a property in the Miyamachou area of the city and had chosen to live there following the events of the fire along with a young boy he adopted by the name of Emiya Shirou. Shirou was apparently the only survivor of the fire from 10 years ago. Kiritsugu's file mentioned that he had died five years earlier to an unknown disease, which doctors were unable to determine the cause of as his body was immediately cremated at the man's request.

As she read through the file one more time to make sure that she hadn't missed anything out of the ordinary, Hakuno wondered just what had been going on in this city a decade ago that resulted in these people dying in violent and mysterious deaths. There were also the gas leaks, kidnappings, property damage, and that great fire that happened around the same time.

If what Mitsuru told her during her briefing was true, it seemed that the same events as 10 years ago were happening all over again.

Over the past month or two, another series of mysterious gas leaks had been happening in the city of Fuyuki. It had even been on the news, resulting in the people in charge to invoke a curfew in order to reduce the number of casualties. However, it appeared that there was a difference between the two cases as the number of victims had increased.

There were no deaths per say, but the symptoms of the various victims were very worrying to Hakuno and was probably the reason why shadow operatives were called in to handle the situation.

There were no physical injuries, according to the medical reports she read, but the mysterious symptoms they exhibited boor-disturbing similarities to Apathy Syndrome that had plagued victims of the dark hour last year. Apathy Syndrome was a mysterious condition that arose last year on Tasumi Port Island. It was a result of people falling prey to the shadows of the 'dark hour.' The various people who fell prey to this new mysterious attack were found collapsed, unable to move or care for themselves.

After reading through the reports Mitsuru managed to gather that Apathy Syndrome was caused when a person's psyche, their soul to be precise, was devoured by shadows, leaving the victim in a vegetable like state. People who ended up in this condition were called the 'lost.'

It was due to this similarity and the fact that more and more cases popped up, that Shadow Operatives decided to take action. It seemed possible that this was the work of shadows, which was why Aigis and Hakuno were dispatched to deal with the case.

Since Shadow Operatives didn't officially exist, they needed this to be a covert mission. Aigis and Hakuno were registered as high school students, therefore it was decided that they would be sent instead of someone like Akihiko, since he was a graduate and had left on a so called training trip to hone his skills. Hakuno of course found this had to believe when she heard this, as she thought something like that only happened in movies and anime.

With Akihiko away, both wild card users were told to enroll at the local high school as transfer students, in order to avoid drawing any unwanted attention while they conducted their investigation. It was also a perfect opportunity to interview the children of the individuals involved in the incident 10 years ago, who funnily enough, were around the same age as Hakuno.

Their names, according to the photos the wild card user had, were Kiritsugu's adopted son Emiya Shirou, Tokiomi's eldest daughter Tohsaka Rin, and Kariya's nephew and adopted niece Matou Shinji and Sakura.

As the car she was in arrived at the hotel she was going to be staying at for the remainder of her stay, Hakuno closed the brown file in her folder. She intended to read it later while she got comfortable with her new digs.

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(Fuyuki Grand Hotel)

"Whoa, I have no idea how many strings Mitsuru had to pull to get us set up in the Penthouse Suite," Hakuno said in amazement as she observed the 5 star room that the Kirijo group set up for the remainder of their stay.

"The Kirijo Group is very influential, both in business and politics. Besides, Mitsuru-san said it was the least she could do for you since you were such a great help to her and the people of Tasumi Port Island last year," Aigis explained as she was busy setting up her recharge station in one of the spare rooms.

"Still, it must've cost Mitsuru-senpai quite a lot of money to hook us up with this place. Are you sure it's alright for us to stay here?" Hakuno asked as she was checking out the pantry. She was impressed with the amount of food already packed in there.

"To be honest, she tried to set us up in a more moderate accommodation, but because of the Kirijo group's reputation, the hotel manager in charge set us up with the hotel suite. By the time Mitsuru-san found out, it was already too late," Aigis said with an embarrassed tone as she remembered that particular incident when booking their rooms.

"Well at least we'll get some privacy. I mean our room is on the top floor after all. Still, for the penthouse suite, it must have cost her a fortune to hook us up with this place."

"Actually, the price was surprisingly cheap considering the hotel's rating, which is strange considering it was just rebuilt two years ago." The Anti-shadow suppression weapon commented, causing Hakuno to freeze as she just realized something.

"Aigis, please tell me straight, was this hotel destroyed before the great fire ten years ago?"

"Actually, that is right, how did you know?" the android asked surprised.

"Aigis, I think this the same hotel Keyneth Archilbald stayed in before it was destroyed in that terrorist bombing. If that's true, it's no wonder the price was so cheap," Hakuno said as she remembered that particular fact from the file she read in the car on the way here.

The hotel staff probably thought that the hotel was cursed for some reason. She remembered reading that Keyneth was discovered to have still been in the hotel when it came down, only for his body to show up a few days later in the abandoned warehouse district, not at all looking like he had been crushed by several thousand tons of concrete.

I was one more thing that Hakuno was confused about, though it did explain the talisman by the front door, as a way of warding off evil spirits.

"I see, in that case, I will be sure to set up a room with a less…scrupulous reputation in the future. Would you like to have a shower first since you had a long day travelling?" Aigis asked as she made the final adjustments to her recharge station.

"Thanks for letting me know Aigis. I'll do that now."

With that said, Hakuno headed for the shower in order to wash off the sweat she had accumulated during her journey.

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(Monday 3rd February 2011)

(Evening)

It was after getting ready that Hakuno walked out of the hotel she was staying at along with her friend and co-worker Aigis. She had decided that it would be better for them to check out the city for a bit before going to school the next morning.

This led to them passing through Fuyuki memorial park.

"Aigis, do you feel that?" Hakuno asked nervously as she observed the area they had passed through on their way to school.

"Affirmative, Hakuno-san, based on what my scanners are telling me, this place has an atmospheric composition similar to that phenomenon that we experienced last year, though there are some differences."

"You mean the dark hour right? I was afraid of this," Hakuno sighed as she was forced to remember the event of last April that changed her life forever.

If someone were to ask you if a day consisted of more than 24 hours, would you believe them? That was Hakuno and Minato's reactions when the chairman first asked them that very question, causing them to look at him like he was crazy. However they had just experienced that mysterious 25th hour first hand.

The Dark Hour was a mysterious phenomenon unique to Tasumi Port Island that happened every midnight, and lasted for one hour, whenever this event happened, all electrical equipment on the island stopped working, the streets were paved with blood, the sky turned a dark green color, and everyone, except certain individuals, got transmogrified into coffins, oblivious to the outside world.

It was also the cause of several cases of people getting Apathy Syndrome, since anyone unlucky enough to not get transmogrified into a coffin were preyed upon by mysterious creatures known as shadows. They were the suppressed feelings present in individuals driven out of control and attacked anyone stupid enough to stand in their way, devouring their souls in the process.

The area around the park had the exact same oppressive atmosphere as the Dark Hour, though it was a different kind than what they were familiar with.

It was then that Hakuno remembered something from reading the file she got from Aigis and asked her something.

"Hey Aigis-san, you remember that huge fire that engulfed Fuyuki ten years ago right?"

"Yes, I went over the details of the mission already and I can already guess what you are implying. You are right," the android said, surprising her human companion before continuing, "Fuyuki Park, which we are standing in, served as ground zero for the fire ten years ago. It engulfed the surrounding houses and buildings in the process. After the fire, the city council tried planting new plants and trees in order to breathe new life into the area, though judging by the state of the park, it doesn't look like it succeeded," Aigis finished as she observed the dead trees everywhere.

"I see. I wonder what this park looked like before the fire happened?"

Hakuno then saw something that caught her eye. It was a red haired boy wearing the male version of the high school uniform that Aigis had showed her earlier at the hotel. What surprised the brown haired girl though was the fact that he was out here this late when there was a curfew in effect due to the murders.

"Emiya Shirou, Age 17. He is a second year at Homurahara High school and was originally part of the Archery club, but left due to an injury. He is currently under the guardianship of one Fujimura Taiga, the heiress of the Fujimura syndicate, and a teacher at the school the boy attends," the Android recited off the top of her head, causing Hakuno to look at her.

"Aigis?! How do you know that?" she asked surprised, as she hadn't expected her friend to have such detailed information about a random high school student they saw in the park.

"I did a little bit of research of my own before you arrived and I found that this boy matches Emiya Kiritsugu's adopted son that was mentioned in the report I gave you, so I hacked into the school database in order to find out more about him."

"But that's a clear invasion of privacy! What would had happened if you were caught!?" Hakuno asked flabbergasted as she had never expected Aigis to do something so illegal. Then again, she realized, her friend was an android, an artificial weapon created by the Kirijo group as an anti-shadow weapon, so it stood to reason that she thought differently than humans did.

"I see, in that case I am sorry for my clear violation of the Data Protection Act. I promise that it won't happen again," Aigis apologized.

"Just try not to do something like that again. I don't want to tell Mitsuru-senpai that we were unable to complete our mission because we got arrested breaking the law," Hakuno scolded the android before looking at the setting sun.

"Do you think it's alright for us to do a bit of reconnaissance first before heading back?" the wild card asked the android.

"I think that is a good idea Hakuno-san. Based on my findings, the attacks happen during the night-time hours, so we might be able to find something if we split up."

"I see, in that case you take Miyama and I'll take Shinto. We'll meet back at the hotel later on tonight at 12:00."

Hakuno then walked to the area where the bridge was before stopping and turning.

"Good luck, and please be careful Aigis!" Hakuno called to her friend, who nodded back.

"You as well Hakuno-san," the anti-shadow suppression weapon said before leaping to the nearest tree. She then proceeded to jump from branch to branch like a ninja, breaking each of the branches she stepped on as she moved. Hakuno watched her until she was out of sight. The Ningata user then proceeded to head for the shadiest alleyways in Shinto and hopefully would catch the person targeting innocent people.

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As Hakuno walked through the dirty streets of the Shinto back alleys, carrying her covered spear over her shoulder, the wild card user wondered if she would ever be able to find out who it was that had been responsible for these attacks.

It was already 11:30 at night. She turned another corner, scanning the streets in order to find the faintest sign of Shadow activity. Sighing as she saw nothing, she decided to see if Aigis had any luck. She reached for the pocket of her jumper and got out the smart-phone that Mitsuru got her for her birthday last month.

It was a popular device from America that was called an I-Phone, something that had a lot of features that set it apart from other phones on the market, in that it had touch-screen technology that removed the need for buttons, allowing the user to use the body heat emitted from their fingertips to operate the device, it also came with a slew of different Apps, movies, shows, or music that can be purchased from either the app store, or I-tunes.

However, right now, Hakuno was looking for Aigis's phone number on her cell, before finding the familiar number, pressed the section containing her number, and waited as the familiar ringing tone echoed through her ear as she pressed the device against her head.

"Yes, this is Aigis speaking, can I help you?" the android said over the phone with the same polite attitude you usually hear from a call centre employee.

"Aigis-san, it's me, how are things going on your end?" the wild card user asked.

"So far there have not been any leads Hakuno-san. However, I did manage to locate some more victims collapsed near the shopping district, I proceeded to apply first aid treatment to them before calling an Ambulance and then proceeded to leave as I did not want to be involved in a police investigation."

This news caused Hakuno to become alert, as she hadn't expected another attack so soon.

"Aigis-san, were you able to find any leads as to who or what attacked them?"

"Unfortunately, the event happened before I got there. However, as I was applying treatment, I discovered something regarding the males that I think you should know," the Anti-shadow suppressant weapon gave her report before continuing, "The male individuals that were attacked out of the group were discovered to have had their lower areas altered, resulting in their impotency," the android said neutrally, causing Hakuno to blush a little before digesting what Aigis just told her.

"Okay, so whoever it was that attacked them is probably a women that has a severe dislike for men in general, so much in fact, that they go the extra mile on anyone unfortunate enough to be a man, causing them to shoot blanks in the process?"

"Those are not the exact words I would use to describe our target, but it is acceptable none the less. The victims have also shown symptoms similar to Apathy Syndrome, so it is possible that they have had their souls devoured by our mystery attacker," Aigis said grimly as she mentioned the fate of the people caught up in the events of this city.

"Meaning that unless we find some way of finding this person attacking people and draining them of their souls the number of victims will only escalate until it becomes a serious problem," Hakuno angrily said as she gripped her phone tightly. "Is there anything else you have, because unless we find some more leads soon, more people will get hurt," she explained, hoping that the other wild card user had an idea.

After a few seconds of silence, Aigis spoke up once again, "There is something that I noticed while I was surveying the area of the crime scene. Before you called me I had already discovered other groups that had fallen victim to the same person that attacked the more recent group as they had the same symptoms.

Based on my knowledge, every shadow attack that happened during the dark hour last year were all done by different shadows. They had unique marks or injuries that made them stand out from each other. However, the attacks I found here in Fuyuki looked to have been done by the same person and in quick succession as well. They were also discovered to have taken place in public areas like restaurants, shops, and public bath houses

Fortunately, the media has decided to label these attacks as 'gas leaks' to not cause wide spread panic among the populace, so we won't have to worry about this going public."

As Hakuno listened to Aigis's report, her mind suddenly made the connection.

"Hold on, are you saying that there is someone out there deliberately targeting multiple people at once from completely different locations?"

It was something that made no sense to Hakuno, as Shadows tend not to possess that much intelligence, barring a few exceptions of course.

What Aigis was implying was that there was a person out there with a power similar to shadows, and was targeting innocent people in the process. This of course could mean only one thing.

"You think there is a Persona user behind this?" Hakuno asked seriously to her friend over the phone.

It was the only thing that made sense. Shadows and Personas were the same thing after all, so it stood to reason that a Persona user would have been able to use the same abilities that a shadow had, plus there was evidence of other Persona users besides SEES, such as STREGA, a group of kids that had their Personas forcibly awakened by experiments conducted on orphans and street punks by the Kirijo Group. The Group had forced them to take dangerous drugs that kept their Personas from killing them, but drastically shortened their lives in the process.

Yet another black spot on the Kirijo Group's reputation that weighed heavily on Mitsuru's conscious.

If the culprit in this case was in fact a Persona user, then it was possible that he or she was a survivor of the experiments like Chidori that had resorted to attacking innocent people in order to increase their shortened life caused from excessive supplement taking, or to keep their powers from destroying them in the process.

After telling Aigis her theory over the phone, she got her reply.

"It's a good theory Hakuno-san, but I'm afraid that it's unlikely that is the case. Based on my findings of the experiments conducted by the Kirijo Group on Artificial Persona users, the only ones to survive the experiments were Takaya Sakaki, Jin Shirato, and Chidori Yoshino, who you know as the members of STREGA. My information is 100% accurate, so the possibility of a fourth survivor is unlikely," the android reported, causing Hakuno to deflate as her theory was shot down.

"Well in any case, we better keep our eyes peeled for any suspicious activity right now Aigis-san, I'll call you back if I happen to find anything."

"Understood, be careful Hakuno-san," Aigis said before hanging up, leaving the wild card user to come out of the call section, press the icon displaying music, and play one of her favorite songs, while grabbing the socket connecting the pair of headphones on her head, and connecting it to her I-phone.

Soon enough, the familiar song she liked to hear called 'Burn My Dread' blazed in her ears before Hakuno walked through the streets of the Shino district, carrying her concealed spear in her hand.

As she looked up towards the sky, she spotted a familiar scene that caused mixed feelings for the brown head.

"Looks like it's a full moon tonight," she soberly said to herself, as she was reminded of the other times that she was subjected to the light of a full moon. It was back on Tasumi Port Island that the light of a full moon signified the decent of 12 powerful shadows, each one signifying a major arcana and was more powerful than the last.

"Shinjiro," Hakuno sadly said to herself, as she remembered her former friend and lover, who unfortunately died on the night of a full moon as well. That was the reason the wild card user had trouble getting close to anyone romantically since then.

Shinjiro Aragaki, was a third year student at Gekkokan High School and was one of the founding members of SEES alongside Mitsuru and Akihiko, since Shinjiro and Akihiko grew up in the same orphanage.

Unfortunately, an incident that happened during his early years fighting shadows with the other two members of SEES caused him to leave the group, skipping school in the process, until he later rejoined SEES after Ken Amada had joined.

It was during a full moon that Hakuno learned the tragic truth behind the 'incident,' one-year before she started high school.

During one of SEES patrols, Shinjiro suddenly lost control of his Persona and killed an innocent bystander in the process, who Hakuno later found out was Ken's mother.

Because the accident was covered up by the Kirijo group, Shinjiro never got the chance to atone for the life he took that day, which caused him to leave the group, until he heard that Ken had joined SEES, deciding that he might as well let the boy have his revenge.

Of course, things didn't turn out that way, as it was later discovered that Shinjiro had been taking the same supplements as the members of STREGA had been using to control their Personas, fully aware that they had lethal side-effects.

Eventually their hostility ended when the older persona user sacrificed himself to save Ken from Takaya Sakaki, causing Hakuno to watch helplessly as her boyfriend died under the light of the full moon, putting an end to the tragic tale.

Needless to say, Shinjiro's death was a real blow to SEES morale, especially Ken who had lost the one chance to have taken his revenge. However, after some time off the other members got back on their feet and moved on.

"I'd best get going, who knows when that maniac will strike next?" Hakuno thought, as she looked down and walked along the street.

Suddenly a high-pitched scream echoed into the night, causing the wild card user's instincts to go into high alert.

"A scream, but where did it come from?" she thought as she scanned her surroundings. Eventually she eyed a back alleyway where she had heard where the high-pitched noise came from.

"It came from that direction," Hakuno thought as she made a mad dash towards the dirty alleyway before skidding to a halt and making a turn without losing any of her speed.

As she sprinted through the darkness, her hand was on the holster concealed beneath her jacket. She was thankful that she had remembered to bring her Evoker with her on this trip.

Eventually, she found what she was looking for and skidded to a halt, her body frozen as she eyed the spectacle in front of her.

Right in that dark alleyway was a brown haired woman in her mid to late twenties. She was wearing a smart business type suit, grey stockings, and black styled boots that had been stained red with the color of her own blood, courtesy of the human shaped monster that was biting her neck like one of those vampires Hakuno had read about in books, novels, and manga.

The thing that was currently feeding on her victim had stopped with her snack in order to stare at Hakuno, who had stumbled upon her little meal. In Hakuno's honest opinion she was absolutely gorgeous, with long purple hair, a blindfold that covered her eyes, and wearing black and purple leather around her legs, waist, chest, and arms.

Then there was the person standing behind her, which was a blue haired boy wearing the Homurahara High school uniform, holding a thick black book that had glowing symbols on it and was currently staring at Hakuno like a deer caught in the headlights.

Recovering from her shock, Hakuno went into a fighting stance as she eyed the two.

"What's going on here?" she shouted, intending to fight back if what she was seeing was true.

She got her answer when the blue haired boy recovered and developed a bloodthirsty grin that gave the wild card user a distinct feeling about what it meant.

"Well, what do we have here, some chick trying to play hero and a cute one to boot! Rider forget about that bitch, deal with this one right this second! We can't let her go now that she's seen you!" the blue haired boy said with an arrogant voice.

"Understood," the now identified Rider said as she dropped her unconscious victim like yesterdays trash before dashing towards the wild card user fully confident that she would be able to deal with her prey in one fell swoop.

However, Hakuno wasn't ordinary prey. She was a Persona user, one of a select few individuals capable of wielding multiple Personas. She had faced the Avatar of Death itself, so she was anything BUT normal. With the battle instincts she had honed fighting shadows in the dark hour, she blocked the purple haired woman's grip with the pole of her spear, causing the wrappings to shred apart from impact, revealing Hakuno's weapon for all to see.

Pinaka, one of the strongest spears Hakuno had in her collection and something that she had created when she fused her Shiva Persona with her Nihl Spear, creating an almighty spear that increased all of her stats by 10 points.

Unlike her other spears Gae Bolg and Gungnir, which were named after famous weapons made legendary by their owners Cu Chulainn and Odin respectively, Pinaka was actually named after the Devine bow used by the Indian deity Shiva. Despite this fact it was a powerful weapon capable of cutting even the strongest shadows into tiny pieces.

However, Rider wasn't ordinary either, so it was understandable when Hakuno was forced back a few feet after Rider's attack.

As she stood her ground, trying to keep herself from losing too much ground, the wild card user looked her attacker in the face, "So do you have a name? Because I doubt Rider is what you're really called."

The vampire like woman of course was silent throughout the exchange, but inside she was confused as to the reason why she was unable to kill this little girl just now.

While it was true that she was hardly at her full power due to Shinji's ineptitude as a magus, she never-the-less, was still a servant. She was someone who possessed nearly thirty times more power than an ordinary human, what with her having C rank strength.

So of course she was surprised by this girl's ability to withstand her attack, using a spear that, in Rider's honest opinion would have passed as a noble phantasm if it was wielded by someone of the Lancer class.

"What the hell do you think you are doing Rider? Hurry up and kill her already, don't tell me your so weak you cannot even handle a little girl!" her 'Master' shouted from behind her, causing the purple haired woman to jump back and aim her nail at the girl's vital areas.

However, this proved to be ineffective as Hakuno batted it away with the butt of her spear, leaving Rider no choice but to jump between the walls of the thin alley way, throwing her nails in order to kill her prey.

Hakuno meanwhile wasn't having a great time as the woman currently had her pinned down, preventing her from grabbing her Evoker and pulling the trigger, allowing her to summon one of her most powerful Personas in order to deal with the enemy in front of her that clearly showed the same power and speed as some of the more powerful shadows she encountered in the upper levels of Tarturus.

"Hakuno, hurry up and grab your Evoker, you won't last long at this rate" a deep familiar voice echoed in her head, having the same voice as a good friend of Hakunos.

"Ryoji?..I mean Thanatos?" Hakuno said as she quickly corrected herself, remembering the true name of her Ultimate persona of the Death Arcana, something that had a very deep connection with a certain Avatar of Death.

"The very same, now hurry up and call me, before she reveals her eyes." the Persona of Death echoed in her head with a hint of urgency, making Hakuno curious as he hinted that he knew something about this mysterious woman.

"Hold on a second Thanatos, are you saying you know her?" Hakuno asked surprised.

"Let's just say she's someone with a very deep connection with Greek mythology. I'll tell you later if you want, but for now you better call me if you want to get out of here alive."

"As much as I want to Thanatos, my hands are kind of tied at the moment," Hakuno replied back as she dodged another thrown attack from Rider.

"In that case try attacking that little snake over there," the Persona said, causing Hakuno to look at where he was talking about before setting her eyes at the blue haired boy who was frozen in place not believing what he was seeing.

"Based on what he said earlier, it's clear that he is the woman's accomplice in some way, perhaps his bodyguard or something? It means that if you attack him, there's a very high chance that she will come to his aid, giving you enough time to reach for your Evoker and call me."

"You want me to do what!?" the wild card user shouted. "I can't do that, what if I accidentally kill him!"

"I'm not saying you should, just aim for a glancing wound. Something to cause her to rush to his aid long enough for you to reach for your Evoker, it's not exactly heroic, but do you have any bright ideas of your own?" The Death Persona asked, causing the female to admit that he had a point. She was currently pinned down without a chance to counter-attack and she had no idea other than what Thanatos proposed how to get out of this mess. With that in mind she made her choice.

"I hope this works," the wild card user thought as she aimed her spear in a throwing position before releasing it towards the blue haired coward.

"RIDER!" he shouted in fright before the no named superwoman landed in front of Shinji, parrying the thrown weapon and knocking it to the side.

"Throwing away your weapon wasn't a very smart move. Didn't anyone teach you anything about basic combat?" Rider commented to her opponent, surprised that she would do something so reckless before seeing her reach for her coat and bringing out what looked like a gun to the Heroic Spirit.

"I see, so instead of relying on a melee weapon, you instead decided to go with a gun of all things. Sorry to tell you, but firearms won't work on me," it was true, since Rider was a spiritual entity, modern weapons wouldn't have any effect on her. However to Riders surprise, Hakuno didn't look worried.

"I see, thank you for telling me, but there's one thing that you should know," Hakuno said before doing something that surprised the Master and Servant pair.

She placed the barrel of the gun like Evoker to her head, "This isn't a gun."

With that said she squeezed the trigger muttering something that went unheard to both Rider and Shinji.

'Per…..so…..na!" then as she pulled the trigger with a grin on her face, a gun like noise echoed in the dark alleyway. However, where blood and brain mass would have been if Hakuno used a real gun, the sight of broken glass like fragments came out of her head. It was followed closely by the sound of breaking glass.

Suddenly, blue like mist materialized behind Hakuno, causing Rider to stare as she witnessed something forming behind the girl.

It was dressed in a black bodysuit that covered its entire body, followed by white boots and elbow length gloves on its arms, followed by yellow like heels on the tip of its feet. It also wore a large golden belt with the buckle shaped in the image of a crossbones, followed by red belts around its chest as well as a white mask shaped in the image of a cross between a beak and a large set of jaws. It was also connected by eight coffins around its body by chains. Finally it wore a sheathed sword at its hip, looking like it was ready to be drawn at a moment's notice.

As the monstrous figure fully appeared behind Hakuno, it opened its eyes from underneath its mask and spoke "I am thou, and thou art I, from the see of thy soul I have come fourth."

"I am Thanatos, that which every living being fears from the bottom of their souls, something that awaits all regardless of what or who you are, I am Death," as soon as it made its introduction, it let out a high pitched scream as a war cry that resonated throughout the narrow alleyway, causing Rider to nearly be blown back by the sheer presence it was emitting.

Shinji meanwhile had nearly pissed himself in fear after experiencing the sheer mind numbing terror that the Thing had emitted when it emerged. However despite this, his pride as the heir of the Matou family wouldn't let him be intimidated by something that, while powerful, clearly wasn't in the same class as a servant.

With that in mind he said, "Rider, what are you waiting for!? She's defenseless now! Don't let something like that intimidate you!"

Hearing his order, Rider leaped towards the brown haired girl, confident that her high agility would enable her to handle anything that this monster threw at her.

Of course her survival instincts warned her to stop, so she did, just in time to avoid her being cut in two by Thanatos' extremely sharp blade. Seeing how close she was to dying just now, Rider chose to reevaluate her options as it was clear that this 'Persona,' as the girl called it before she summoned it, was much stronger than it looked.

Then there was the fact that for some reason, Rider felt that she should know who this thing was, despite the fact that she had clearly never seen or heard of him before in her life. It was then that she remembered where she heard his name before and mentally slapped herself for not remembering it sooner.

Thanatos, the personification of Death and mortality featured in Greek mythology, and a god that was part of the Greek pantheon of Gods, before the end of the Age of the Gods. As a fallen goddess of beauty turned monster, Rider of course was familiar with Thanatos' presence, whenever she felt his power claim the lives of those Rider had killed during her days defending her home from the various soldiers and heroes that visited the shapeless isle.

However, the thing in front of her couldn't be him, as Thanatos was clearly a Divine Spirit before he disappeared following the fall of Olympus after the Age of the Gods ended. In all honesty, this being claiming to be Thanatos felt more like a Servant like herself then a true god.

"I see that you are confused about my true identity, however that is not important right now as I have no intention of letting you cause harm to her….Medusa," Thanatos said to the Gorgon, who almost dropped her chains in surprise as her true identity was immediately discovered by this imitation in front of her causing her to bite her lip in frustration.

"Medusa!?" Hakuno said in surprise, as she had heard that name before. She remembered something that she researched a while ago. "Thanatos, you're not talking about the Greek monster slain by the hero Perseus are you?"

"The very same, what you see before you is the true Medusa, the being that served as the origin for the Legend of the hideous Gorgon featured in Greek Mythology, though it's clear that her legend isn't quite as accurate as we thought, as it said nothing of her breathtaking beauty." The death incarnate said while openly admiring Riders assets, causing both wild card and Servant to look at him funny.

"Thanatos, I really don't think that trying to flirt with a dangerous woman trying to kill us is a very smart plan," Hakuno deadpanned, causing the Persona to cough embarrassingly.

"Right, sorry about that," he said before putting his hand forward and said something that caused Rider's instincts to flare up again.

"Maragidyne," he shouted as he clicked his hands, causing the area where Rider was to be engulfed in red flames, scorching the area it hit black. However it seemed that Thanatos missed his mark as Rider landed a fair bit away from them, carrying a shaken Shinji under her arm. It seemed as if the mystery of the Death Persona still connected somewhat as Rider had a few burn marks on her, despite the fact that she had C rank magic resistance.

"Damn, she's a slippery little gorgon I'll give her that. Still, it seemed like she didn't get away from that scot free if the damage she took was any indication," the Death Persona commented as Hakuno decided to grab Pinaka that had been discarded now that Rider had moved away from it.

With Hakuno armed once more, Medusa had to admit that the girl was good. She used a powerful fire based mystery as a distraction, in order to get her weapon back and to give her more room to fight. Whoever she was, it was clear that she had experience in life or death situations. If the fact that she was able to fight off a dangerous killer out to end her life without flinching was any indication.

Then there was the fact that the thing in front of the brown haired girl knew who she was, meaning that her more unique skills were now compromised. It also meant that if she wanted to win this then she needed to think of something and fast.

However, her thoughts were cut short as the girl rushed towards her with Thanatos in tow, dodging the rapid thrusts from her spear at a speed that was clearly not possible for a human, and yet she was doing it with relative ease.

"Impressive," Rider commented, "I didn't think there was anyone in this day and age that could fight like you do. Tell me, what is your name little girl?" the gorgon asked, not expecting an answer as she was simply curious.

However, to her surprise, the girl answered, "Hakuno, Hakuno Arisato."

"I see, that's a very good name you have there," the gorgon commented, as she threw her master to the other side of the alleyway, who screamed like a little girl, before landing on his back with a painful groan.

"Now here's my question, what are you doing in this city? Because I find it hard that a legendary monster from the past would suddenly just appear in a Japanese city without good reason," the wild card user asked, fishing for information as the person in front of her was clearly connected to the string of Gas leaks that had been plaguing the news.

"That's on a need to know bases, and considering the fact that you aren't a Master, bless the fates that isn't the case, you don't need to know," the servant said with a witty remark, causing Hakuno to grow mad.

"Okay then, if you won't talk, then I'll just have to beat you and drag the answers I want out of you, after that I can start giving that woman you fed on some medical treatment before she gets worse," Hakuno said as she intensified her attack.

In response Rider smiled, "You're welcome to try."

She then jumped onto a nearby wall, clinging to it like a certain friendly neighborhood spider. She jumped between the narrow walls, gaining speed with each pounce, while Medusa wasn't on the level of someone like Lancer with his A rank Agility, hers was nothing to make light of, even when her stats were reduced after being given to Shinji as his servant. Realizing that she had built up enough speed, the gorgon soared through the air as she leapt towards Hakuno, confident in her that she would be able to kill her before she had the chance to blink.

Only for Thanatos to send Rider flying in the opposite direction, her mind trying to process what happened as she collapsed into a bloody mess by Shinji's feet.

Time ground to a halt as Shinji looked at the scene before him like it wasn't real. It couldn't be real, he was the heir of Matou, a master in the Holy Grail War and yet his servant was defeated by some no name woman and whatever the hell she had called, it was beyond infuriating for him.

Hakuno meanwhile looked at the mangled woman she had Thanatos injure with mixed feelings, since a Persona was a literal part of you, this allowed Hakuno to share her visual, and physical senses with Thanatos, including pain.

However, because of this, Hakuno's reaction time was much higher than that of a normal human, which is why she was able to see Medusa's movements as if she was moving in slow motion and act accordingly.

"Wha-What on earth is wrong with you Rider, don't let that bitch beat you, you're my Servant, so obey me and get the hell up!" Shinji shouted hysterically as he kicked his Servant, who began to spasm uncontrollably as her body was unable to comply with the order she was given.

"I said get up you useless servant, do it right now!" he said kicking her once more, growing more paranoid.

It was then that Hakuno had seen enough and grabbed Shinji's arm before he did anymore harm "That's enough," she said with a cold look in her eyes.

"Stay out of this you bitch!" the blue haired boy shouted as he prepared to slap the interloper, only to freeze as he felt an overwhelming presence, against his judgment he looked up, and saw something that he would remember in his nightmares.

For it was Thanatos, looking down at Shinji with an Evil glint in his eyes, and an Evil smile that sent bone chilling terror through Shinji's soul. Unconcerned that he had soiled himself, the heir of Matou screamed like a little girl as he ran away as fast as his legs could carry him.

Realizing that he had dropped something in his haste to get away, Hakuno proceeded to walk towards it, curious about it as she felt a strange power coming from the item. As she looked down, she realized that the thing at her feet was in fact a red leather book, one with foreign symbols on the top section and a petal shaped symbol separated into three segments on its cover.

Picking it up in order to get a closer look, the wild card user opened it up in order to see what was inside.

"Hakuno, put that book down quickly!" Thanatos tried to say in time, but he was too late as the book Hakuno was watching began to emit a bright light that engulfed the wild card user.

The thing that Shinji had in his hand was the Book of the False Attendant, an artifact used by him to steal Rider from her true Master. As such it acted as a fake 'Command Seal' giving the blue haired boy false ownership of the Servant. However what he hadn't known was that the book gave ownership of Rider to 'anyone' in possession of the Book of the False Attendant.

So as soon as Hakuno laid her hands on the book, the energy emitted by her soul (or SP as Mitsuru had decided to call it) began to be sucked out of her and into somewhere close. That somewhere just so happened to be Rider, as the fatal wound she received from Thanatos began to heal at an accelerated rate. Soon she was able to stand up as if she was uninjured in the first place.

Seeing this, Hakuno went into a stance with Pinaka, her Persona Thanatos hovering above her, ready to do battle.

"Relax, I have no intention of harming you now," the woman said, causing Hakuno to develop a question mark over her head.

"Huh?" she asked. "What do you mean you have no intention now!? You were just trying to kill me just a few minutes ago!"

"The circumstances have changed from earlier. I see no reason to fight you at the moment, since you are now my Master, for the moment anyway," Rider said as a matter of fact.

"What? Master? What the hell are you talking about!?" the wild card user asked, causing Medusa to look at her if she was kidding, before coming to a realization.

"I see, perhaps its best I start from the beginning. By the sounds of it, you don't have any idea what's going on in this city do you?" the gorgon asked, before seeing the brown haired girl nod her head in affirmation.

"Hakuno, do not let your guard around her, she might not look like it, but she is still a powerful monster who turned countless heroes to stone with her eyes," Thanatos warned.

"I know that, but based on what she said, she knows something about what's going on in this city, and this is the best chance I have to learn something. I have to risk it," Hakuno said back.

"Very well, I will trust your judgment, but be sure to stay vigilant. You don't want to end up like that woman over there do you?" the Death persona said, making Hakuno realize that in her fight with Rider, she had completely forgotten about the woman the gorgon had fed on.

"Shit, I completely forgot about her! Please be alright, please be alright!" the wild card user then rushed towards the 20 something year old woman and checked her pulse to see if she was still among the living. She sighed in relief when she felt the pulse. It was weak, but the woman was alive.

Not wanting to make her condition worse, Hakuno decided to dismiss Thanatos, and placed her Evoker on her head once again.

"Cybele," she shouted before the familiar scene of her shooting herself in the head met Rider's senses, causing a blue mist-like substance to cover the area around Hakuno's back before a beautiful blue skinned woman with horns on her head and covered by three large metal rings appeared.

"Please heal her," she said to the entity, which nodded back and said a single word.

"Samarecarm."

This caused a bright yellow light to appear above the woman, causing her skin to grow healthy again and heal the bite mark on her neck. Rider of course was surprised at this as well, since her new temporary master had summoned another powerful entity with ties to ancient Greece, who knew what else she could summon.

"There, she's back to full condition Hakuno, though to be honest I think you should take her to receive proper medical treatment just to be safe," the blue skinned woman commented, causing Hakuno to shake her head in acknowledgement as that was what she was planning on doing.

With that settled the brown haired girl turned towards the gorgon and asked, "Okay, Medusa was it?"

"Just Rider is fine. I don't want anyone else to know my true name," Rider said, causing Hakuno to raise an eyebrow at this.

"I'll explain everything later if you wish, but I think we should get this woman medical treatment first as it's getting very late."

"You seem awfully concerned for her safety, considering you've been drinking her blood only a little while ago," Hakuno said in a questioning tone.

"I have no excuses for my behavior, but I will allow you to make your own decision later once I explain why I did it." Rider said.

"I'll hold you to that, in any case can you help carry her to the hospital for me? I'd do it myself, but I kind of have my hands full at the moment," she asked as she was currently wrapping Pinaka in its covers again.

"Very well Master, please lead the way," the beautiful woman said, as she picked the woman up and walked with Hakuno to the Hospital.

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Matou Zouken was beyond furious right now

Granted, it was partly his own fault for letting his useless grandson become Rider's Master after Sakura refused to fight in the Holy Grail War, which is why he gave Shinji the Book of the False Attendant to see if he would still prove useful to his plans, despite the fact that he possessed no magic circuits at all.

But by the looks of what he had seen, it seemed that he had overestimated his grandson's abilities.

It was understandable, he admitted. After all from what he saw through his familiars, the girl not only possessed a spear capable of withstanding the physical might of a Servant, but proceeded to summon a strange spiritual entity that felt too much like a Servant, to fight Rider to a standstill, and then defeated the Gorgon with almost minimal effort.

In all the years that Zouken had been alive, he had to admit that he never seen anything like what that girl had summoned. From he saw what she saw her do earlier, it seemed that could summon more of those things as she wished, but that wasn't what had the ancient magus's attention.

Oh no, if this grandson's shameful behavior after Rider's defeat wasn't bad enough, the fool had left the one thing necessary for him to regain control on the floor in his haste to run away, leaving control of the Matou Servant in the hands of a powerful outsider.

The girl was a dangerous wild card all on her own, but with the backing of a Servant that now had a competent Master meant that the two could win the entire War. That was something that Zouken Matou wasn't about to let happen.

At first, Zouken was content with staying behind the scenes, letting his grand children compete in the War in his place, but with this new development, the head of the house of Matou couldn't afford to sit on the sidelines now. He had invested too much time and resources to be outwitted by a young upstart now.

However, that could wait for tonight as he intended to punish his idiot grandson for foolishly leaving such an important item in the hands of the enemy.

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Hello Viewers, Epicgamer484 here, and welcome to the first chapter of my new fic Persona Shadow of Fate.

For those of you hoping to see an update for Blade of Earth, it's a current work of progress at the moment, as I am trying to figure out what direction my story will take me.

This right here is just one of many story ideas that I am currently writing in my spare time, and something to help practice my writing skills since I m only a beginner, so forgive me for the low quality.

As a fan of both the Persona series and Fate Stay night, I wanted to write a crossover for a while now.

Also I would like to give special thanks to RedhathackerSin for beta-ing this for me, as I am still an inexperienced writer and really appreciate the help.

So anyways please review and see you next time.

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters featured in this fic, Fate stay night and Persona 3 are the property of Type Moon and Atlus.


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